Articulatory and Phonological Determinants of Word Length Effects in Span Tasks

Several previous studies have shown that memory span is greater for short words than for long words. This effect is claimed to occur even when the short and long words are matched for the number of syllables and phonemes and so to provide evidence for subvocal articulation as being one mechanism that underlies memory span (Baddeley, Thomson, & Buchanan, 1975). The three experiments reported in this paper further investigate the articulatory determinants of word length effects on span tasks. Experiment 1 replicated Baddeley et al.'s finding of an effect of word length on auditory and visual span when the stimuli consist of words that differ in terms of the number of syllables. Experiments 2 and 3 showed that the effects of word length are eliminated when the words in the span task are matched for the number of syllables and phonemes but differ with respect to the duration and/or complexity of their articulatory gestures. These results indicate that it is the phonological structure of a word and not features of its actual articulation that determines the magnitude of the word length effect in span tasks.     

Empathy, Ways of Knowing, and Interdependence as Mediators of Gender Differences in Attitudes Toward Hate Speech and Freedom of Speech

Women are more intolerant of hate speech than men. This study examined relationality measures as mediators of gender differences in the perception of the harm of hate speech and the importance of freedom of speech. Participants were 107 male and 123 female college students. Questionnaires assessed the perceived harm of hate speech, the importance of freedom of speech, empathy, relational and collective interdependence, and connected and separate ways of knowing. Gender differences were found for the harm of hate speech, freedom of speech, empathy, and separate learning as a way of knowing. Women were more negative regarding the harm of hate speech and regarded freedom of speech as less important than men. Additionally, the perceived harm of hate speech was positively associated with empathy, connected knowing, and interdependence, and freedom of speech was positively associated with separate learning and negatively with empathy. Empathy mediated gender differences in the perceived harm of hate speech, and separate learning mediated gender differences in the importance of freedom of speech.     

Brain weights correlate with behavioral parameters in individual inbred mice housed in a common and enriched environment

Fifty 8-week-old Balb/c mice were individually identified and housed together in a large and enriched environment for 5 months. Maze and open field exploration, response to an aversive noise, swimming, and induced grooming tests were applied to each mouse in an initial search for possible relationships between brain morphology and spontaneous behavior in isogenic individuals living in a complex social and physical environment. The tasks generated 39 quantitative behavioral indices which include locomotion, rearing, still, and grooming bout frequencies, latencies, total, and mean bout durations. At the end of the tests, the 7-month-old mice were sacrificed and the fresh weights of their whole brain, cerebellum, brain stem, diencephalon, telencephalon, and prosencephalon were rapidly obtained. Behavioral data have wide variations and do not adjust to normal population distributions. Means of the same parameter differ between tests. A Spearman correlation matrix of all data yielded many significant correlations between indices of the same task which can be interpreted in terms of time budget and sequence probability. Significant correlations between indices of different tests suggest diverse emotionalities, exploratory strategies, and motor skills. The correlations between body and brain weights and among separate brain regions were not significant. There were several low but significant correlations between brain weights and behavioral indices. Such correlations, the resulting factors, and significant behavioral differences between mice with large and small brains suggest that mice displaying low motor activity in novel environments have larger brains and forebrain/hindbrain ratios than mice with high activity, and that animals with high scores of some specific behaviors have larger brain areas physiologically related to such behaviors.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Do children use similar processes to read and spell words?

The use of spelling-sound information in both reading and spelling was evaluated by having children read and spell nonwords and five types of words that differed in terms of their regularity for reading and spelling. The subjects were grade 3 children who had been psychometrically defined as good readers and good spellers (“good”), good readers and poor spellers (“mixed”), or poor readers and poor spellers (“poor”). Results indicated that all children attempted to use spelling-sound correspondences in both reading and spelling, although children in both the mixed and the poor groups had weaker knowledge of these correspondences and were less systematic in their use of them. Furthermore, even though the children in the mixed group had been matched with children in the good group on reading comprehension, the number and type of errors made by the mixed subjects on both the reading and spelling tasks were more similar to those of the poor subjects than to those of the good subjects.     

The psychological cost of waiting

The study of any problem involving waiting situations invariably assumes that people dislike having to wait. The analysis of queueing problems usually prescribes that some costs should be associated with the time people spend waiting to be served. These are usually considered to be of an economic nature, though the existence of other costs of a psychological nature is accepted. It is generally accepted that after having to wait for a certain amount of time, anxiety and stress start to build up in an individual, due both to the sense of waste and the uncertainty involved in a waiting situation. This work provides a theoretical basis for analysing this building up process as it occurs during the waiting period. It is proved that, under very general conditions, the resulting psychological stress accumulated during the process is a marginal increasing function of the waiting time, and some strategies to minimise it are developed. The results obtained give theoretical support to the usual assumptions underlying the development of systems to provide “real time” information to people in waiting situations. This is especially important in the operation of public transportation systems. The results also provide theoretical support to the “convex” treatment usually given to the waiting cost function in queueing problems.     

Social structure features in three inbred strains of mice, C57Bl/6J, Balb/cj, and NIH: a comparative study

Some features of social living were investigated in three inbred strains of mice: C57Bl/6j, Balb/cj, and NIH. Five social behaviors--Aggression, Submission, Allogrooming, Social Rest and Rest Alone, as well as Wheel Running Activity--were recorded 2 h daily for a week, in 26 groups of seven male mice living in an enriched environment. Dominants and subordinates among strains shared some behavioral characteristics, but strain contributions upon social structure were also detected. Similarities among strains included the appearance of a single dominant mouse per group rated as the most aggressive, besides from being the animal presented with most Submissions. Allogrooming was more frequent among subordinates than among dominants and subordinates. Differences among strains were that agonistic behavior among subordinates was higher in the Balb/cj and NIH groups than in the C57Bl/6j mice. NIH mice were recorded in Rest Alone more often than mice from the other strains. C57Bl/6j dominants showed higher rates of Wheel Running Activity than subordinates.     

Three-dimensional perspective drawing of two-dimensional functions with microcomputers

In this paper, we present a BASIC program for Apple II series computers that allows the user to obtain perspective drawings of two-dimensional functions of known analytical expression. Also, we outline a procedure for obtaining perspective representations of two-dimensional arrays of data using the same program. The program should run on any computer with graphics mode with only slight modifications in the graphics commands.     

Factor analysis of the Wechsler adult intelligence scale-revised (WAIS-R): An examination of the standardization sample

Orthogonal and oblique factor analyses were performed using the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised (WAIS-R) standardization sample (Wechsler, 1981). Using objective criteria, it was decided to retain two factors. Evidence for a strong general intelligence (g) factor was found from both the orthogonal and oblique rotations. Whereas the verbal IQ provided an acceptable estimate of the Verbal Comprehension factor, a purer measure was found in the form of a Verbal Comprehension Deviation Quotient containing only the Information, Vocabulary, Comprehension, and Similarities subtests. The performance IQ was found to be an inadequate measure of the Perceptual Organization factor. A Perceptual Organization Deviation Quotient, containing only the Block Design and Object Assembly subtests, was recommended as an effective alternative. Analysis of the variance components for each subtest at every age level revealed that a substantial proportion of subtests at a wide range of age levels evidence either high or intermediate levels of specific variance. These results are discussed in terms of interpreting individual subtest scores and patterns. Each of the study's major findings are compared with prior work done with the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) (Wechsler, 1955).     

A developmental study of destereotyping and androgynous activity preferences of tomboys,nontomboys, and males

A study of 210 fourth, sixth, eighth, and tenth graders and adults was conducted to determine developmental trends in both destereotyping of traditionally gender-typed activities and preferences for those activities, and to compare activity preferences of tomboys with other females and with males at different ages. Tenth graders destereotyped less than the other age levels. Additionally, female subjects destereotyped traditionally boys' activities more than girls' activities and more than male subjects. Although nontomboys and boys showed a preference for gender-traditional activities, tomboys preferred traditional girls' and boys' activities equally. Self-defined tomboys do not reject traditionally female activities; instead, they expand their repertoire of activities to include both gender-traditional and nontraditional activities. It is suggested that girls who are able to transcend gender-role behavior in childhood may be the ones who will grow into androgynous adult women.